Enantioselective radical chemistry: a bright future ahead

• Anna C. Renner,
• Sagar S. Thorat,
• Hariharaputhiran Subramanian and
• Mukund P. Sibi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2283–2296, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.174

• selective synthesis owing to their unprecedented catalytic activity and selectivity. Advances in the field of protein engineering have made enzymatic catalysis more amenable to enantioselective organic synthesis in the past decade. Recent advances in the development of synergistic catalytic systems

Pathway economy in cyclization of 1,n-enynes

• Hezhen Han,
• Wenjie Mao,
• Bin Lin,
• Maosheng Cheng,
• Lu Yang and
• Yongxiang Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2260–2282, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.173

• ligands could enhance catalytic activity and efficiency while enabling fine control over chemo-, regio-, stereo-, and enantioselectivity of reactions. Ligands enhance both the thermal/chemical stability and solubility profiles of catalysts in specific reaction media. Thus, ligands function as a regulatory

C2 to C6 biobased carbonyl platforms for fine chemistry

• Jingjing Jiang,
• Muhammad Noman Haider Tariq,
• Florence Popowycz,
• Yanlong Gu and
• Yves Queneau

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 2103–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.165

Systematic pore lipophilization to enhance the efficiency of an amine-based MOF catalyst in the solvent-free Knoevenagel reaction

• Pricilla Matseketsa,
• Margret Kumbirayi Ruwimbo Pagare and
• Tendai Gadzikwa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1854–1863, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.144

• into MOFs, we confined catalytically active amines within MOF pores of systematically increasing lipophilicity. Our results reveal a clear correlation between increased pore lipophilicity and enhanced catalytic activity. Additionally, increasing lipophilicity resulted in congruent changes in the

Continuous-flow-enabled intensification in nitration processes: a review of technological developments and practical applications over the past decade

• Feng Zhou,
• Chuansong Duanmu,
• Yanxing Li,
• Jin Li,
• Haiqing Xu,
• Pan Wang and
• Kai Zhu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1678–1699, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.132

• nitration degree, with excess nitric acid driving reactivity at the cost of post-treatment complexity. Simultaneously, the molar ratio of H2SO4/HNO3 (usually 1.0–4.0) modulates acid strength and catalytic activity, necessitating effective balancing to optimize nitronium iongeneration efficiency while

Calcium waste as a catalyst in the transesterification for demanding esters: scalability perspective

• Anton N. Potorochenko and
• Konstantin S. Rodygin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1520–1527, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.114

• ), the main phase of which is Ca(OH)2; the yield of fatty acid methyl esters was 28% (Table 1, entry 4). When using CaCO3, no formation of a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters was detected (Table 1, entry 5). Thus, the main phase of CaO in the CS600 catalyst was responsible for the catalytic activity

Microwave-enhanced additive-free C–H amination of benzoxazoles catalysed by supported copper

• Andrei Paraschiv,
• Valentina Maruzzo,
• Filippo Pettazzi,
• Stefano Magliocco,
• Paolo Inaudi,
• Daria Brambilla,
• Gloria Berlier,
• Giancarlo Cravotto and
• Katia Martina

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 1462–1476, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.108

• indicate that MW irradiation enhances the catalytic activity of Cu toward the oxidative aromatisation of 2a-o, leading to the fast and complete conversion of the starting material to the desired 2-(piperidine-1-yl)benzoxazole (2a). Since both reactions were conducted at the same temperature, this

Chitosan-supported CuI-catalyzed cascade reaction of 2-halobenzoic acids and amidines for the synthesis of quinazolinones

• Xuhong Zhao,
• Weishuang Li,
• Mengli Yang,
• Bojie Li,
• Yaoyao Zhang,
• Lizhen Huang and
• Lei Zhu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 839–844, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.67

• nonprotonated solvents such as THF and toluene were used, the yields were relatively low (Table 1, entries 1 and 2, 39 and 27% yields), indicating poor catalytic activity in these solvents. In contrast, using proton solvents (MeOH, iPrOH and H2O) led to improved yields (Table 1, entries 3−5, 51−60% yields

• , entries 14 and 15, 80 and 40% yields). In addition, when the reaction time was reduced, the yields decreased accordingly (Table 1, entries 16−18, 70−94% yields). Finally, when the reaction was carried out under open air, the catalytic activity decreased and only 45% yield of the target product was

• in Scheme 4b. In each cycle, the recovered CS@CuI was simply centrifuged, filtered, washed, dried, and then reused with fresh substrate under the optimized conditions. The results demonstrate that the catalyst retains good catalytic activity (yields no less than 86%) even after six cycles, and ICP

Recent advances in the electrochemical synthesis of organophosphorus compounds

• Babak Kaboudin,
• Milad Behroozi,
• Sepideh Sadighi and
• Fatemeh Asgharzadeh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 770–797, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.61

• carried out in a divided cell using platinum electrodes as the anode and cathode in the presence of pyridine as a base and ligand (Scheme 14). The catalyst behavior of palladium is attributed to its ability to form palladium clusters of specific sizes that exhibit high catalytic activity. However, this

Asymmetric synthesis of β-amino cyanoesters with contiguous tetrasubstituted carbon centers by halogen-bonding catalysis with chiral halonium salt

• Yasushi Yoshida,
• Maho Aono,
• Takashi Mino and
• Masami Sakamoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 547–555, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.43

• product was obtained in moderate diastereo- and enantioselectivity, however, chloronium salt 9c did not show significant catalytic activity, and the product was formed in nearly the same yield as that obtained without a catalyst with low stereoselectivity. From these observations, bromonium salt 9a was

• , the reaction catalyzed by only 1 mol % of iodonium salt 9b provided the opposite diastereomer of 17a as the major product compared with that without a catalyst, which revealed the high catalytic activity of our catalyst. Further reaction conditions optimization was conducted using 9a as a catalyst

Beyond symmetric self-assembly and effective molarity: unlocking functional enzyme mimics with robust organic cages

• Keith G. Andrews

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 421–443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.30

• ]. Lattices can also contain defects, which may affect catalytic activity unpredictably [228]. Nonetheless, macroscale structures, like those that arise from the stacking in 2D COFs, can contribute to catalysis, for instance dense arrays of aligned C–H bonds can provide CH–π interactions in Diels–Alder

• (increased flexibility) (Figure 9B) [41]. The ability to tune catalytic activity by tuning the cage rigidity, conformation, or dynamics is certainly an advantage rather than a liability [395][398][399][400][401][402]. It is perhaps unsurprising that the balance of rigidity and flexibility [403][404

Red light excitation: illuminating photocatalysis in a new spectrum

• Lucas Fortier,
• Corentin Lefebvre and
• Norbert Hoffmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 296–326, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.22

• sacrificial reducing agents (Scheme 6), contrasting with traditional blue-light photocatalysis which led to substrate decomposition [33][34]. The axial ligands on the ruthenium phthalocyanin complex, particularly electron-deficient pyridyl groups, were found to influence the catalytic activity by stabilizing

Cu(OTf)₂-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Sara Colombo,
• Camilla Loro,
• Egle M. Beccalli,
• Gianluigi Broggini and
• Marta Papis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 122–145, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.7

• ; heteropolycycles; multicomponent reactions; one-pot reaction; Introduction Copper has gained a relevant role in organic synthesis as an alternative to precious metals due to its low toxicity, ease of handling, high catalytic activity, and cost-effectiveness [1][2]. In recent years, Cu(OTf)2 has significantly

Recent advances in organocatalytic atroposelective reactions

• Henrich Szabados and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 55–121, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.6

Advances in the use of metal-free tetrapyrrolic macrocycles as catalysts

• Mandeep K. Chahal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3085–3112, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.257

• , photocatalysts, and electrocatalysts are presented here. The effect of macrocyclic structural modifications such as their functionalization with different substituents, distortion from planarity, conformational flexibility and rigidity towards catalytic activity are presented, highlighting the potential of these

• other binding sites required for substrate binding and/or promotion of the catalytic activity. Past studies have shown that modifying the porphyrin core with urea functionalities and amino acid substituents leads to the formation of ureaporphyrins, which significantly enhance sugar binding in non-polar

• . Changes in the reduction or oxidation state can alter redox behavior, thereby affecting catalytic activity. For example, it has been reported that 2,3,5,7,8,10,12,13,15,17,18,20-dodecasubstituted free-base porphyrins and their mono/diprotonated derivatives are highly distorted with a good access to the

Recent advances in transition-metal-free arylation reactions involving hypervalent iodine salts

• Ritu Mamgain,
• Kokila Sakthivel and
• Fateh V. Singh

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2891–2920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.243

• easily recycled just by washing it with ethanol, retaining its catalytic activity for arylation up to three cycles without any compromise. Thus, this procedure could be considered economic as well as environment-friendly. In 2019, Kalek and co-workers reported the regioselective C–H arylation of 2

Synthesis and antimycotic activity of new derivatives of imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines

• Dmitriy Yu. Vandyshev,
• Daria A. Mangusheva,
• Khidmet S. Shikhaliev,
• Kirill A. Scherbakov,
• Oleg N. Burov,
• Alexander D. Zagrebaev,
• Tatiana N. Khmelevskaya,
• Alexey S. Trenin and
• Fedor I. Zubkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2806–2817, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.236

• of the catalytic activity of CYP51. A number of previous studies confirmed the efficacy of azole compounds and their derivatives against a variety of strains and clinical isolates of the genus Candida. Nevertheless, the increased use of azole antifungals for the therapy of both mucosal and systemic

5th International Symposium on Synthesis and Catalysis (ISySyCat2023)

• Anthony J. Burke and
• Elisabete P. Carreiro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2704–2707, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.227

• carbene (NHC) framework from polysubstituted aminoimidazo[5,1-b]oxazol-6-ium salts, which demonstrated strong catalytic activity in gold-catalyzed alkyne hydration and arylative cyclization reactions [14]. The synthesis of this new carbene involved the use of a novel nitrenoid reagent that was

• time-consuming, complex, and expensive. Consequently, it is of utmost interest to immobilize them for reuse but without affecting their catalytic activity. The main factors discussed were the type of support, immobilization, and interaction between the support and the organocatalyst. The particular

Computational design for enantioselective CO₂ capture: asymmetric frustrated Lewis pairs in epoxide transformations

• Maxime Ferrer,
• Iñigo Iribarren,
• Tim Renningholtz,
• Ibon Alkorta and
• Cristina Trujillo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2668–2681, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.224

• catalysts located at the top. The top of the volcano plot corresponds to the scenario where the catalyst exhibits high catalytic activity, as it achieves an optimal balance in binding to the reactants, neither too strongly nor too weakly (Figure 1A, purple points). The catalysts with binding energies lower

• than the catalysts at the top show lower catalytic activity due to insufficient activation of the substrate (Figure 1A, green points). Conversely, catalysts that bind too strongly impede the detachment of the catalyst–reactant complex, thereby reducing the catalyst turnover (Figure 1A, pink points) [26

• F1_PB_Ph_CF3 from family 1 are exceptions as they exhibit acceptable catalytic activity. To identify the most suitable substituents, compounds of family 1 were excluded (except F1_PB_Ph_H and F1_PB_Ph_CF3), and a new volcano plot (Figure 6B) was generated. This plot employs the same axes as before (ΔG(pre-TS01

Efficient modification of peroxydisulfate oxidation reactions of nitrogen-containing heterocycles 6-methyluracil and pyridine

• Alfiya R. Gimadieva,
• Yuliya Z. Khazimullina,
• Aigiza A. Gilimkhanova and
• Akhat G. Mustafin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2599–2607, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.219

• ][19][20]. The catalytic activity of metallophthalocyanines originates from their planar, cyclic structure with a developed π-conjugation system. This makes the fifth and sixth coordination sites of the central metal ion available for coordination with the reactant molecules of the catalytic reaction

Evaluating the halogen bonding strength of a iodoloisoxazolium(III) salt

• Dominik L. Reinhard,
• Anna Schmidt,
• Marc Sons,
• Julian Wolf,
• Elric Engelage and
• Stefan M. Huber

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2401–2407, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.204

• resulting order of catalytic activity of these halogen-bond donors is in line with the above-mentioned previous benchmark of these activators [13]. Finally, also the new iodoloisoxazolium salt 7BArF was applied and a comparably high activity was observed (ca. 85% conversion after 2 h). This result marks

Catalysing (organo-)catalysis: Trends in the application of machine learning to enantioselective organocatalysis

• Stefan P. Schmid,
• Leon Schlosser,
• Frank Glorius and
• Kjell Jorner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2280–2304, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.196

• optimization algorithm allowed them to discover multiple trade-off optima, enabling a scientist to select the ideal catalyst based on the specific requirements of catalytic activity and selectivity, while still accounting for catalyst generality through design of the objectives. Noticeably, data analysis

• witnessed a surge in data-driven approaches to improve the design of reactions, e.g., by inferring mechanistic features through statistical modelling, the generation of catalyst structures with increased catalytic activity, or optimising the reaction conditions to maximise the yield or selectivity. In

Factors influencing the performance of organocatalysts immobilised on solid supports: A review

• Zsuzsanna Fehér,
• Dóra Richter,
• Gyula Dargó and
• József Kupai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2129–2142, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.183

• , including the type of support, immobilisation techniques and the resulting interactions. In addition, the influence of these factors on catalytic activity, selectivity and recyclability is discussed, providing an insight into optimising the performance of immobilised organocatalysts for practical

• reaction components and the catalyst are in the same phase. Active catalytic sites are readily accessible to the reactants and therefore generally result in higher catalytic activity and selectivity [8]. As a result, homogeneous catalysis is generally preferred to heterogeneous catalysis, especially in the

• influence on the properties and thus performance of the resulting heterogeneous catalyst. However, immobilisation and structural modification introduce additional steps in the synthesis of the catalyst. Moreover, the catalytic activity and selectivity of immobilised catalysts are often lower than those of

2-Heteroarylethylamines in medicinal chemistry: a review of 2-phenethylamine satellite chemical space

• Carlos Nieto,
• Alejandro Manchado,
• Ángel García-González,
• David Díez and
• Narciso M. Garrido

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1880–1893, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.163

• tumor bed of a vast diversity of human tumor types. As phenylalanine is the preferred substrate of IL4I1 catalytic activity, Presset et al. [6] reported novel phenylalanine derivatives as a strategy to inhibit IL4I1 activity, as this enzyme has a preference for hydrophobic amino acids. Among them

The Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction in its maturity: innovation and improvements since its 21st birthday (2019–2023)

• Cristina Martini,
• Muhammad Idham Darussalam Mardjan and
• Andrea Basso

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1839–1879, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.162

• conditions can also be found. 1.1 Metal and Brønsted acid catalysts As previously mentioned, Sc triflate is the most widely used Lewis acid for the GBB reaction, generally exhibiting higher catalytic activity compared to other metal triflates, such as Yb, In or Bi. No extensive work had been done on rare

• catalysts Noncovalent organocatalysts display a few advantages compared to the traditional metal Lewis acids, such as lower environmental impact, higher stability to air and moisture, easier removal from the GBB products. In this regard, Bolotin et al. in 2022 have reported the high catalytic activity of

• an effective chalcogen bond donation to the substrates, in place of the halogen bonding previously described. Although their catalytic activity was reported to be lower than the one of aryl iodonium derivatives, this research contributed to the scarce number of publications on the catalytic activity